International Species Information System
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| Formation | 1973 |
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| Type | International not-for-profit organization |
| Purpose | Zoo and aquarium animal records database |
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Region
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Global |
| Method | Membership |
| Slogan | Global information serving conservation |
| Website | www |
Species360 (formerly International Species Information System or ISIS) founded in 1974, is an international non-profit organization that maintains an online database of wild animals maintained in captivity. As of 2016[update], the organization serves more than 1,000 zoos, aquariums and zoological associations in 90 countries worldwide. The organization provides its members with zoological data collection and management software called ZIMS—the Zoological Information Management System. As of 2016[update], the ZIMS database contains information on 21,000 taxonomies at species level; 74,000,000 medical records. It also includes. Members use the basic biologic information (age, sex, parentage, place of birth, circumstance of death, etc.) collected in the system to care for and manage their animal collections (including demographic and genetic management in many cases). It is also used for ex situ breeding programs and supporting conservation research and programs.
Since its founding in 1973, the group has been a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) pursuing wild animal conservation goals. Species360 works in partnership with zoo associations around the world.
Regional association members include:
Species360 and the Central Zoo Authority of India (CZA) have a five-year memorandum of understanding with a primary goal of migrating the majority of the zoos in India into the ZIMS database.
The organization has staff and representatives in Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Bogota (Colombia), New Delhi (India) with headquarters in Minnesota (USA).
Modern zoos and aquariums often are "gene banks" for endangered species. In some cases, species which have become extinct in the wild and have been bred in zoos are eventually returned to the wild. Examples include the black-footed ferret, California condor, Przewalski's horse, red wolf, Micronesian kingfisher (not yet reintroduced), and the Arabian oryx. Individual zoos generally do not have the space to maintain a viable species population (which for many mammals and birds requires 500+ animals in order to maintain sufficient genetic diversity), so maintaining genetic diversity requires coordination between many zoos. Scientific expertise on husbandry, nutrition, veterinary care and so on is spread throughout the zoos and aquaria of the world. Breeding and population management relies on accurate information about animals in all member institutions, especially pedigree history (parentage) and demography (births and deaths).
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